Langley gardener getting pumped for the election

I can spend a whole day in the garden, as I did today, shifting dirt, lugging water, transplanting and repotting plants that will flower and bear fruit in the lazier days of summer… it’s hard work at some level, but it’s also relaxing.

It keeps me in shape.

And it gives me time to think.

Sometimes I think about how much later spring is this year. The cherry blossoms came fully open today – more than a month later than last year. Of course, last year was the earliest I can remember, and while the weather this spring hasn’t been great, it’s certainly been within a standard deviation of normal.

Sometimes I think about the plants that will spring from the seeds I’m planting in the greenhouse.

Sometimes I think about the ratio of dirt to fresh compost I need to mix up for the hostas or the ferns that we have potted up in barrels. Indeed, that’s what I was thinking about today when I discovered that my wheelbarrow has a flat tire – the tire that I bought brand new just last summer to replace the old one that had an annoying slow leak.

I think I’ll have to replace it again. Soon.

Sometimes I think about my habit of procrastinating. And usually joke to myself that I’ll think about it tomorrow. Or next week. Maybe.

Often I think about the sunshine – or the rain, when it’s raining – and also about politics.

Truth is, I think a lot about politics. I find the subject intriguing.

It occurred to me today, as I was pumping up that leaky wheelbarrow tire, hoping to fill it with enough air to transport a load of composted wood chips to a new container bed across the other side of the yard, that gardening and politics have a lot in common.

With the cherry blossoms and an election in the air, it’s prime time for both gardening and politics right now. In the coming month, we are being asked to decide whether to pump up our leaky wheel in Victoria or replace it with a new one.

It’s a tough decision, since experience has taught us that new wheels can go flat, too.

On the other hand, how many times do you pump up a tire before you realize it’s just not delivering the goods?